LETTER: Country deserves better

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Dear Editor:

Hurricane Sandy struck the U.S. east coast over two months ago, destroying thousands of homes, leaving millions without electricity for weeks, causing an estimated $63 billion in property damages and, worst of all, killing 131 people in eight states, 53 in New York.

So what does the Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, do in response to an emergency appropriation request to assist victims of this tragedy? He postpones the vote until some time later this year, presumably whenever Boehner's fellow caucus members find the time in their busy, busy schedules to actually act.

If one were totally cynical, one might conclude that by postponing this emergency appropriations request, Speaker Boehner hoped to later tie this aid request to offsetting demands that, for example, the debt ceiling not be breached or certain corporate tax loop holes not be closed.

Hopefully this does not prove to be the case. Aid requests like those to help the many victims of Sandy should be spared the disgraceful, even contemptuous partisan bickering that often paralyzed the last Congress. The people of this country deserve better ... and they are demanding better results.